FHFA Sees Big Jump in GSE Loan Mods

Modifications of loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were up 50% in the first two months after regulators seized control of the government-sponsored enterprises. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said mortgage servicers modified 5,600 GSE loans in October and 8,291 in November. The November figure was 68% higher than the monthly average for the previous 10 months of 2008. However, FHFA also found that serious delinquencies in the Fannie and Freddie portfolios are still rising. In November, 1.88% of the GSEs' loans were 90-days or more past due, up from 1.00% as of March 31, 2008. But foreclosure starts dropped late last year, possibly reflecting increased loss mitigation efforts. FHFA director James Lockhart noted that a foreclosure moratorium implemented by the GSEs only affected two business days of November, but he said the moratorium will have a big impact on delinquency and loss mitigation data for December and January.